It is generally accepted that the better prepared a sports team is, the more successful they will be at the game. While many factors affect a team's preparedness, the training equipment available to a team has traditionally been considered critical. Consequently, training equipment has continued to evolve, as players and teams attempt to gain a competitive advantage over opponents. This evolution has resulted in a closer approximation of "game-like" conditions for the athletes during practices. Simulating game-like conditions has allowed the players to finely tune their skills in ways that directly translate into increased "on-field" performance.
One sport that has traditionally relied heavily on a variety of training equipment for simulating game-like conditions is football. In football, it is a common belief that to control a football game, a team must control the line of scrimmage. Controlling the line of scrimmage entails, in most cases, blocking the opponent by thrusting them rearwards, i.e., in the direction the team wishes to advance. In accordance with this premise, if the team on offense controls the line of scrimmage, i.e., effectively blocks, its quarterback is given ample time to throw the football to a receiver or, alternatively, a running-back is given ample room to maneuver and gain yardage before being tackled by opponents. On defense, controlling the line of scrimmage results in pressure being applied to the quarterback or a running-back before significant yardage, if any at all, can be gained by the offense.
To simulate game-like blocking conditions in football, "blocking sleds" and other similar training mechanisms have been developed, and are used at many levels of play, from school age children to professionals. Such devices usually include a pad attached to some type of frame or mechanism, which offers resistance to the player's thrust. These devices simulate an opponent's momentum with varying degrees of accuracy. In some cases, a blocking sled comprises a pad affixed to a rigid frame which a player thrusts rearward, opposed by the weight of the sled and the resistance between the sled and the ground. In other cases, the blocking pad is affixed to a movable mechanism within a sled or trainers, which controls the motion of the pad relative to the apparatus itself to enhance the simulation of the opponent's momentum and body movement during blocking. For example, a typical training exercise with a blocking apparatus involves a player, e.g., a lineman, striking the pad as though he were blocking the opponent and thrusting the apparatus and pad. Examples of football blocking training devices which provide movable horizontal resistance, substantially parallel to the ground and opposite to the trainees' momentum include U.S. Pat. No. 4,943,057. Such devices, provide resistance generally along a single axis which, unfortunately, does not accurately mimic the momentum and body movements of an opposing player during a blocking event. It is common for an opponent, initially in a crouched position, to rise up vertically from the crouch position while simultaneously providing forward momentum which must be resisted. Accordingly, other blocking training devices have attempted to provide a trainee with a blocking target which provides resistance along both a horizontal and a vertical axis relative to the ground, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,720,103; 5,462,272 and 5,143,372.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,272, Staten, a blocking device is disclosed in which the pad is moved horizontally a predetermined distance until a latch is released allowing the arm to which the pad is telescopically mounted, to be pivoted in an upward, arcuate path. Unfortunately, during a scrimmage event, the opponent will be resisting a player with momentum having both horizontal and vertical components immediately at the onset, not after the component has been pushed rearwardly a fixed, predetermined distance. In addition, the upward momentum of the opponent's mass is not likely to follow a predefined arcuate path, as with the pivoted arm and the pivoted a blocking pads disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,462,272 and 5,143,372.
Further, the device disclosed in the Staten patent is completely integrated with the frame and sled of the blocking mechanism. Because of the expense associated with football training equipment, and, given the sometimes-limited financial resources of educational institutions for purchasing such equipment, the purchase of new, more modern blocking devices is not always realistic. Many organizations desire a low cost and efficient way to upgrade their existing legacy equipment without having to buy a new blocking training device.
Accordingly, a need exists for a mechanism which more realistically mimics both the horizontal and vertical components of an opponent's momentum during a scrimmage event.
An additional need exists for a mechanism which enables a blocking training device to more realistically mimic the momentum of an opponent's resistance and which can be integrated into the large number of legacy blocking training devices without requiring complete replacement thereof.
A further need exists for an apparatus which may be completely integrated into a blocking training mechanism both cheaply and efficiently.